In the retail industry, the largest expenditures are typically the cost of the goods sold followed closely by the cost of labor expended. With particular regard to the retail grocery or supermarket industry, the impetus to reduce labor costs has focused on reducing or eliminating the amount of time required to handle and/or process the items or goods to be purchased by a customer. To this end, there have been a number of self-service checkout terminal concepts developed which attempt to substantially eliminate the need for a checkout clerk.
A self-service checkout terminal is a system which is operated by a customer without the aid of a checkout clerk. In such a system, the customer scans individual items for purchase across a scanner and then places the scanned items into a grocery bag, if desired. The customer then pays for his or her purchases either at the self-service checkout terminal if so equipped, or at a central payment area which is staffed by a store employee. Thus, a self-service checkout terminal permits a customer to select, itemize, and in some cases pay for his or her purchases without the assistance of the retailer's personnel.
However, during operation of the self-service checkout terminal, the customer may desire to purchase an item which is difficult to scan with the stationary scanner typically included in the self-service checkout terminal. In particular, the customer's items for purchase may include items, such as a bag of dog food, which are relatively large, bulky, or otherwise have a size, weight, and/or shape which renders the item difficult to lift and thereafter scan over a stationary scanner. In such a situation, the customer is undesirably forced to either strain himself or herself in order to lift and scan the item, or request assistance by store personnel thereby reducing efficiency associated with the customer's operation of the self-service checkout terminal. Alternatively, the customer may be required to manually input a product code associated with the large, bulky item via a keypad or the like. However, the customer may be inexperienced in such manual entry of the product code thereby causing the customer to make mistakes in entering the item or completely preventing the customer from entering the item without the assistance of store personnel.
Moreover, the self-service checkout terminal may be equipped with a security device, such as a video system or a number of scales, which provide security during operation of the terminal by monitoring movement or placement of items subsequent to entry into the terminal. For example, the self-service checkout terminal may include a bag scale which detects placement of an item into a grocery bag once the item has been scanned into the terminal. However, use of such a bag scale is not effective in the case of large, bulky items since such large, bulky items will likely not be placed in a grocery bag.
What is needed therefore is a self-service checkout terminal which overcomes one or more of the above-mentioned drawbacks. What is particularly needed is a self-service checkout terminal which facilitates a customer's entry of large, bulky items. What is also needed is a self-service checkout terminal which provides a level of security for monitoring entry of such large, bulky items.